August Summary

Even though setting up a post like this one takes a while, I love making these kinds of statistics. ^^;

+ Top 10 Anime With 1 Episode Released +
I’m still hoping for Gintama, Yoshinaga-chi no Gargoyle, Hime-sama Goyoujin and all of the other neglected shows to get subbed. In any case, I think I’ve found the way to split the shows into two groups. I’m indeed finding myself to judge the anime with just one episode released in a different way than when I judge anime with more than one released.

12: Project Blue Chikyuu SOS

Eh, worthless garbage, anyone? Dropped

11: Innocent Venus

A bit too much style and action, a bit too little substance and a bit too boring. Dropped

10: Mamotte Lollipop

A standard shoujo-series. I don’t think I’ll survive when I try to finish this.

9: Kamisama Kazoku

The fansubs seem to have stagnated. I also don’t like the direction it’s heading for. But ah well, who knows.

8: Witchblade

I have to admit. The scene with the subordinate going berserk was kindof touching.

7: Kirarin Revolution

Muchas creditos to Phenie of Nihon no Kiseki. It’s great to see that fansubbers are actually attempting to fansub the lesser known anime. Anyway, about the anime. It’s got some surprising good points, but I swear. The annoying moments will kill me some day.

6: Shoujo Jang Geum no Yume

Seems like the premise for a nice story, but I keep hearing from all sorts of sides that it ruined the drama it’s based on.

5: Popolocrois Story 1998

A very fine episode it was. Gaminator was awesome.

4: Hellsing Ultimate

While the first episode was rather disappointing, I really loved the second one. It really reminded me why I loved the original series. Character design is awesome, though the excessive gore could have been a bit less.

3: The Third

I’m still in love with The Third. It’s an amazing series, and it’s got amazing characters.

2: Mushishi

The tale presented this month was another tale of brilliance. Not the best, though it was amazing to see a fellow Mushishi solve her problems.

1: Noein

The ending was just utterly incredible. Among the best endings ever.

+ Top 25 Anime With More than 1 Episode Released
Never was it this hard to order the best five. Most of the times, there was a clear series which was the best for a month. This time, however, there wasn’t. There just were a number of very good series, but none really stood out among them. They all had their awesome moments.

25: Bleach

So, Rukia gets attacked, only to get saved by her brother, and a whole episode was wasted on this? Ugh. The creators could have used the filler-arc so much better. But ah well. It’s Bleach after all. It’s got to appeal to all of the brainless action fans. Sigh.

24: Ouran High School Host Club

Lobelia had some funny moments, though overall, Ouran has been weak this month. With both an episode dedicated to Honey, and yet another one to the past of Hikaru and Kaoru, things just got incredibly boring.

23: Utawarerumono

Such a pity. Utawarerumono was going into the right direction. But where do these mechas come from? With this kind of plot twist, I was hoping for something more dramatically.

22: Higurashi no Naku Koro ni

Higurashi once was great. I still consider it great. But the Shion-arc was horrible. I’m glad it’s over. Still, it’s good for one thing: I’m now incredibly looking forward to the sixth arc.

21: .Hack//Roots

.Hack//Roots is turning into a horrible mess. Will it be able to recover? Let’s hope so.

20: Power Puff Girls Z

It’s interesting that the first five episodes have just been introducing the different characters, while Mojo Jojo kept playing for bad guy. This month, the series has been churning out some of the different bad guys from the original series. Some are interesting (Princess), some have very nice backgrounds (Sedusa), some failed (Fuzzy Lumpkins) and some are pure win (Amoeba Boys).

19: Flag

It’s a very nice series, but I’ve got one complaint. Nothing really happens.

18: Naruto

I like the current filler-arc. It seems actually complex, with an interesting story. It’s nice to see a large-scale ninja-mission again, with lots of different characters coming into action.

17: Hanoka

Hanoka is cute. Still, the story has yet to reach great parts. But then again, it only got 10,5 minutes of airtime. ^^;

16: Kemono no Zume

The second episode was a bit less. The pacing was a bit too slow. Still, it didn’t make this anime less interesting.

16: Popolocrois 2003

Enjoyable, though not as interesting as its predecessor yet.

15: Binbou Shimai Monogatari

The girls get cuter with every episode progressing. Some things don’t really make any sense, as why would an extremely rich girl try to buy all kinds of bargains?

14: NHK ni Youkoso

The characters are good. At least. When they don’t focus on any pervert thoughts.

13: Ginga Densetsu Weed

Not as many deaths as I hoped for. Only two characters died in four episodes. I also found myself laughing at the final episode.

12: Black Lagoon

The last two episodes never managed to catch the same awesomeness of Roberta. Enjoyable, however, it remained.

11: Muteki Kanban Musume

Muteki’s still going strong. And the frequency of annoying moments is actually lowering as the episodes progress.

10: Good Witch of the West

For its finale, Good Witch of the West dropped its useless struggles between Firiel and Roux, and started focusing on the thing really important: The Story. And with this, it managed to finish with a very interesting ending. Even though the climax itself was rather anticlimactic, I’m glad I watched it.

9: Blood+

Blood+ has been very strong again. Though I hate to say it, but it isn’t as strong as it used to be. Right now, it’s moving into a straight line towards the conclusion, though the amazingness we saw around episodes 26-36 seems to be gone. Let’s hope that the final episodes manage to deliver.

8: Ayatsuri Sakon

The second arc ended so extremely strong. The third arc was nice, though predictable. I really wonder why I put it on hiatus in the first place. Murder mysteries for the win.

7: Ergo Proxy

Ergo Proxy has been very enjoyable and thought-provoking this month. Still, it has been better.

6: Eureka 7

Finally, with episodes 44 and 45, Eureka 7 returns to its old level, with some very disturbing, yet very touching and amazing scenes. I’m glad that this series managed to pick up in the end. I’m very curious about how this one will end.

5: xxxHolic

xxxHolic has been as strong as we’re used from it. Watanuki keeps getting more likable and enjoying. Not to mention that the themes introduced in each episode are great. This month was like no other.

4: Night Head Genesis

The first episode left a huge impression on me, and the following three episodes showed that I’ll be having lots of fun with this series. ^^;

3: Otogi Juushi Akazukin

Fandavale is awesome! It’s just such a rich an imaginative world, full of very interesting, and very funny characters.

2: Simoun

Simoun just keeps amazing me. While it wasn’t able to reach its level of awesomeness it set in July, this anime just continues proving that it’s incredible.

1: Tsubasa Chronicle

Hehe, I never thought that Tsubasa Chronicle would make the 1st place some day. But with the immensely strong episode centred around Kurogane, combined with its other strange, yet enjoyable episodes, it managed to do it.

+ Fall Preview +
A few numbers. I tried to be as complete as possible in this preview, though without a doubt, I must’ve missed a few. Still, with the ones listed here, the new season will consist out of 43 series, 4 OVA and a movie. Things turned out even worse than I suspected with a massive 12 bishoujo-harem series and 10 series which bear suspicious resemblances to tasteless shounen fighting series. I’m fearing that this season will only feature as many good shows as the summer-season did…

Love Dol: Lovely Idol

Ever since I talked about it last month, it released the character art it’ll be using in the anime. Let’s just say that that didn’t change my opinion for the better.

009-1

“This is another future that the Cold War has continued for 140 years. The earth is divided into two worlds, the East Block and the West Block. Under the false peace keeps its balance by the meanance of nuclear, two worlds continued their war. What does Mylene Hoffman see in the conflicts of spies living in bloodless world?” I think this show is about a spy, though it’s labelled as a science-fiction mecha-action show. I guess that that means three things: 1. It’ll be a typical shounen-series. 2. It won’t be realistic at all. 3. This anime will be following a sexy spy who likes action and drives mechas. Sure.

Mamoru-kun ni Megami no Shukufuku wo!

“”Beatrice”. It is a mysterious power that responds to people’s will and realize all of them. Tokyo Beatrice University Attached High School is the only school that teaches Beatrice called “magic appears in the real world”. Yoshimura Mamoru is a high school boy who was saved by Beatrice miraculously when he was a child. At the first day of the school, he meets a girl under the cherry trees on his way to the school. She orders him to go out with her. Her name is Takasu Ayako. She is in the second grade and one year older than him. She is a director of student committee of discipline. Also, she is a granddaughter of a big-name politician, very beautiful, and a genius Beatrician who can even shoot a satellite down. She is called Witch Beatrice or Death Angel in Beatrice, but in fact, she is a pure-hearted girl.” Ever since I mentioned it previous month, the character art which will be used in the anime has been introduced. God, the main male character looks horrible.

Shijou Saikyou no Deshi Kenichi

“Shirahama Kenichi is always bullied by the classmates. One day, he sets out his mind to become strong, following an advice of a beautiful girl, Furinji Miu, he goes to a martial arts school. However, it was a tremendously hard school where the strongest martial arts masters teach…” Seriously, one look at the promo-art and the heavy emphasis on female body-parts tells us to stay faaar away from this anime.

Tokimeki Memorial

It’s based on a game, it seems. “One spring afternoon, only Ooga Riku (name subject to change) has transferred to Tsumugino Private High School, and for some reason young students are chasing him. Gripped in his hand is a cat-earred headband, and because of the pursuing party, Riku runs from place to place, thinking his innermost thoughts. “Why am I the only one like this!” Nevertheless, Riku’s soul screams causing the heartlessness of the young student’s roar to cease to a close. “Amamiya-san, anybody and everybody mustn’t take over!” ……Below one’s eyes spreads the ocean and upon a slightly elevated hill the mammoth-size school is to be built, the stage of Tsumugino Private High School will unfold in this romantic comedy, “Tokimeki Memorial ~Only Love~” An exchange student who’s main characteristic is nothing special, a young student “Ooga Riku” focus is his friends, and the students of Madonna Academy’s whose heart’s experience can be described as that of a encouraged, bustling high school student. Without knowing why, every day troubles tend to swallow up Ooga Riku. Can we expect Riku to encourage himself and lead a high school life? And can he find love with the flawlessly beautiful girl “Amamiya Sayuri,” the robust daughter who loves to love, “Kasuga Tsukasa,” or the younger sister type and swimming girl, “Yayoi Mina?” Living one’s life now as a high school student, a person who was formally a high school student and someone who will become a high school student’s true new feeling of a high school student’s significance, a new world of “Tokimemo” is beginning!” Quite a long description, though this suggests that this anime also can be summarized in three words. Male. School. Harem. I won’t be looking forward to this…

Negima!?

“10-year old Negi Springfield is a wizard-in-training, and needs only to pass one more test in order to become a Master Wizard. Unfortunately, his final task is a bizarre one- to become a English teacher at an all-females boarding school. As soon as he arrives, he completely embarrasses one of his students, Asuna Kagurazaka, and replaces the teacher she loves, which garners her hatred. To make matters worse, Asuna learns that Negi is a wizard, and promises to tell unless he helps her out. But, unfortunately, circumstances force them to work together to do many things, from fighting evil wizards to helping the class pass their final exam, with a lot of humour, magic, and romances thrown in.” And this its second season. Seriously, I couldn’t even stand the first two episodes of the first season. What’s so great about this anime anyway? The fact that we’ve got one guy with a harem of 31 girls?

Kanon Remake

This probably is the most hyped show of the season. If I understood things correctly, it’s going to be a complete remake of the original series, but now with better graphics and music. I tried the original series, though I couldn’t bear to watch more than two episodes. The plot was so standard and the characters just looked way too ugly. Now that I’ve seen the trailer the characters still look ugly. Don’t get me wrong, I love cute characters, but the eyes are just way too big and out of proportion. Not only that, each of the characters looks so incredibly standard. They’ve got absolutely nothing unique. Even for anime. The fact that KyoAni produces this also says nothing to me. I’ve yet to see any great work from them.

Kekkaishi

“Sumikawa Yoshimori, a 14-year-old junior high school boy, is a descendant of Kekkaishi, or an exterminator of monsters He is vying for the heir to the family with Yumikura Tokine. Tokine is older than him, and she is his childhood friend as well as his rival Kekkaishi. To save people from the crises, and to make himself stronger, Yoshimori fights against monsters tonight, too.” 14-year old kid who battles monsters along with a girl. Where have I heard this before?

_Summer

“By this word his friend asked during the school excursion, the protagonist, Kaizu Takumi, begins to aware of his interest in opposite sex. Of course, there are girls around him, for example, his childhood friend, Hatano Konami, his classmate, Ebizuka Shino, a school idol, Shimazu Kakana, etc. However, he himself hasn’t noticed his feelings until he is asked by his friend. He becomes anxious seeing his friend try to find his girl friend, and he resolves his mind to find a girl friend during the last summer of his high school life.” This is an OVA, which seems to be focusing at a guy, trying to find a girlfriend amongst many bishoujo. Exciting.

Happiness!

So, throw in four cute girls, a number of pets and god knows what kind of story. So what? We’ve got enough of them this season. ^^;

Yoake Mae Yori Ruri Iro Na

Based on a game. “The LORD reigneth; let the earth rejoice; let the multitude of isles be glad thereof. Clouds and darkness are round about him: righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne. A fire goeth before him, and burneth up his enemies round about. His lightnings lightened the world: the earth saw; and trembled. The hills melted like wax at the presence of the LORD, at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth. The heavens declare his righteousness, and all the people see his glory. Long ago people settled down on the moon and established a kingdom there, the Sphere Kingdom. However, relations to the earth cooled down and were finally broken off since a war was fought hundreds of years ago. There isn’t any business between the two races and travelling isn’t allowed. The only link between them is to be found in the Mitsurugasaki Central Port City. However, one day the princess of the moon kingdom, Feena Fam Earthlight, is sent on a “homestay” to the earth. She gets to stay at Asagiri Tatsuya`s house. And this is where her task of learning the customs and lifestyle of the earth begins.” Oh wow, a girl from the moon gets to stay with a boy with the excuse to learn Earth’s customs. Honestly, how can the creators ever make this anime stand out at least a bit?

Black Blood Brothers

Scheduled to come out at September 8. It tries to be serious, though its promo-art and its trailer are incredibly stupid. It’s something about evil vampires, and blood. Definitely a shounen action-anime. Ah well, the good thing is that the series only takes up 13 episodes. Something very rare among shows of this nature.

Buso Renkin

“One day, Muto Kazuki, a high school boy, saves a girl being assaulted by a big monster, but he is stabbed to death by the monster. However, the next morning, he finds he is alive. He wanders it was just a dream, but he meets the monster again, and he realizes his death is real. He and his sister get into a scrape, but suddenly, a girl in the dream appears. She explains him that the monster is a Homunculus made by alchemy. She also tells him that there is Kakugane in his chest in place of the heart. It is an alloy made by alchemy, too, and it is the only weapon to fight against Homunculus. Using the power of Kurogane, he beats the monster and saves his sister.” I hope they aren’t serious with this kind of plot… Seriously, why the heck is he the only one? I’m wondering who the strange dude in the middle is.

Jinzo Konchu Kabutoborg VxV

Heh, at least I’ll have a good time mocking this one. ^^

Gift Eternal Rainbow

“Narasakicho is a site-spot near the seashore. In this town, there are two mysterious phenomena. One of them is a rainbow over the town, it doesn’t disappear. Whenever one looks up, it is always there. The other one is a magic called “Gift”. It is a present that one can give the other only once.
Amaumi Haruhiko is a student who goes to Shimano Academy. One day, a student transfers to the school. It was his sister-in-law. She used to live with him, but they have been living separately by some reason.” Nothing much happened with this one after I talked about it last time. It’s still focused at cute girls, it’s still a harem, it still has a strange background and it still has this strange sister in law.

Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru

“The main character Mizuho is a nice guy who was born in a good family, smart, and moral. But one day, he has to transfer to a girl’s high school by his grandfather’s last will. Then, he has to disguise like a girl to go to the school…” Probably one of the best of the huge wave of bishoujo-harems to come this season. It actually seems to be centred around shoujo-ai.

Sasami Mahou Shoujo Club 2

“Sasami can use magic from her birth, but she’s kept it secret following her parents’ words. However, when she meets a new assigned teacher, Washu, and a transfer student, Misao, her fate changes dramatically. A transfered student, Misao, has no friends and isolated. One day, Sasami asks her to visit the cooking club. The manager of the club, Washu, brings out a strange creature, Ryooki, which looks like a rabbit or cat, and she asks them to cook it. Ryooki suddenly jumps up and begins to run away. Running after Ryooki, they fall into a mine. Suddenly, Misawa begins to be suffered from the flashback of her past and her figure changes. Surprisingly, she can use magic, too. Because of her magic, she was teased. Sasami shows Misao that she is a witch, too, and they become friends. Washu celebrates their friendship, and tells the truth. The cooking club is actually a magic club.” Someone hurry up and sub the first season!!!! *cough*

Tokyo Tribe 2

“This is the other side of Tokyo, a Tokyo of a different colour. There, various tribes are living. The SARU from Japan’s Musashino, WU-RONZE of Bukuro, and HANDS of Shindyuku… Young men living in the city…the public of modern times builds a home out of corruption, these young men of the sordid side of life, a side called “reality,” are depicted here!” The title seems to suggest that there was a Tokyo Tribe before this one. Anyway, this will be about some typical Japanese slums, filled with corruption. Should be worth a watch, though I’m not sure if I can follow it without having seen the first part.

Bikkuriman Hikariden

Not much is known about this anime, except for the quirky character designs listed on the website. It’ll probably be one of the neglected shows of the season, meant for little kids. Still, there is hope.

Gin-iro no Olynsis

Little is known about this anime. Just a few character and mecha designs. The show will probably focus at the latter, by the looks of it.

D. Grey Man

“The story takes place in a world looks like the 19th century Europe. The Earl of Millennium plots to massacre the human beings by AKUMAs, which are weapons made from machines, sprits, and tragedies. On the other hand, there is people stand up to the Earl. They’re exorcists of Dark Religious Organization. They fight against the Earl with innocence. The innocence is a divine substance scattered around the world as various forms, and it makes strange phenomena. However, once it is used by an exorcist, it becomes a powerful weapon against AKUMA.” Another shounen-action series. I hope “innocence” is a translation error.

Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto

Is it me, or is there no information about this anime at all? ^^; In any case, it seems to be some kind of samurai-anime. The website gives out a few main characters, though they look very low-budget.

FREEDOM

“The civilization on the Earth was destroyed by permanent abnormal climate. In these days, cities of one million people had been built on the moon, and they became the only place where human-race survived. The people left on the moon declared the foundation of Republic Eden. Then, they have been expanding the cities that loved peace and freedom. However, a boy’s act would shake Eden’s freedom and peace later. More than 160 years have passed since then. In Eden, the children finish their compulsory education when they are 15 years old. Then, they become parts of the society as citizens. During their brief moratorium, they are given freedom. Like other boys, Takeru is going to take part in a race with his friends. It is a race of machines perucilar to the moon called “Vehicle”. What is different from other boys is Takeru made his vehicle by himself. By this act, Takeru touches the secret hidden in Eden. In the year of 2267, Eden hides two freedoms.” This’ll be a 6-episode OVA. The setting looks standard at first, though the description shows that a lot of effort went into the background of the world. The character art itself doesn’t look too promising, though. It’s a bit too 3D.

Kujibiki Unbalance

“Here, in Rikkyoin High School, all the troubles are solved by the lot (Kujibiki), and even students are chosen by lots at the entrance exams. This is the story about a one-year battle among the candidates for the next school government leaders, who are also chosen by the lot, in order to gain the position.” Another harem. Still, at least this one has a bit of an original setting. But then again, having grown up at schools at which nobody even cared about school elections, this anime doesn’t say anything to me.

Eien no Hou

Eien no Hou, or the Laws of Eternity, is a movie planned to be aired at September 30. It seems to be based on the third book of a trilogy of novels. It’s about another world. The novel seems to be explaining about this world, though I think that the movie will take a more action and adventure-oriented path, based on the trailer. It seems to be full of fancy graphics. Maybe a bit too full.

Kiniro no Corda ~Primo Passo~

This looks like your standard Shoujo-Series. “Seiso Gakuen is a high school that has two curriculum, normal course and music course. Hino Kahoko is a normal course student. However, one day, she is chosen by Lilly, a fairly of music lives in the school, and she is given a magical violin. With the magical violin, she is supposed to enter the most prestigious contest of the school. However, all of the other contestants are talented students of music course…” I’m not sure about the nature of this show, though. Will it be full of comedy? Will it be angsty? Or will it just be plain boy-loves-girl cheese?

Souko no Strain

“In the distant future, the mankind is divided into two powers; Union and Deague. They have continued long war that no one is sure when it began. Union uses manned weapons, Strain, as the main military power, while Deague uses unmmand weapons Tumoru. Sara Viereck, a daughter of a good family, is a Union’s 16-year-old girl who goes to Grapera Space Armed Soldier Academy locates in Cranial Solar System in order to become a full-fledged Reasoner (a pilot of Strain). Her brother, Ralph Viereck, was sent to the front line 130 light years away to accomplish a special mission when she was 11 years old. It takes 400 years of objective time even by the fastest sub-light speed space craft of Union. However, according to relativist theory, it corresponds to two subjective years (the time crews experiences). Therefore, Sara needs to go to the same battle field to meet her brother. Because they lost their parents when they were quite young, Sara thinks of her bother as a guy dearer than a sibling, and she lives for their reunion. One day, the planet Sara lives is suddenly assaulted by Deague. Surprisingly, it was her brother Ralph that takes away a mysterious girl sleeping in a capsule. To search the truth, Sara gets in Strain and runs after him. However, she receives an attack from Ralph, and the Mimic is broken. The Mimic is a copy of the pilot’s brain, and it is an essential part to control the Strain.” This seems to be an ambitious project, who tries to keep the cute character designs. I don’t know if it’ll work, as the characters seem to have rather weak reasons for their action. Still, it could become good as well, if the plotholes are filled enough.

Bartender

This is an anime about a bartender. Apart from that, nothing’s really known. Ah well, something has to happen to the poor guy, hasn’t it? After all, he can’t just serve beer for an entire series, can he?

Hataraki Man

“Matsukata Hiroko is a 28 year old editor with naturally large breasts. She’s often at odds with Tanaka Kunio, a novice editor. Her work already stresses her out and he’s unapologetic about his own mistakes! Everyone refers to Hiroko as a masculine woman for how seriously she takes her work. She smokes too much, works too much, and never has sex. However, when it’s time to get a story done, she switches into “Working Man” mode where her testosterone in her blood increases, she works three times her normal speed, and all thoughts of life’s necessities disappear.” Ah, an anime about a workaholic. That makes things a bit more clear now. The main website also changed since I did my first preview on this, showing the art which will be used in the anime. It’s actually quite good. Still, I’m still worried that this might go the same direction as NHK (the wrong one).

Shounen Onmyoji

“Abe no Masahiro is a grandson of the great Onmyoji, Abe no Seimei, but Masahiro is still inexperienced and an apprentice. Accrding to Seimei and Masahiro’s monster buddy, Mokkun, Masahiro’s spiritual power is strong enough to be the successor of Seimei.” Why does this anime remind me so much of Tsubasa Chronicle? Ah well, since the last time I talked about it, the character art to be used in the anime appeared on the main site. So far, I like the boy, though the summoned person tries a bit too hard.

Afro Samurai

“The tale of Afro Samurai is one of bloody hardship and pain. Along his solitary path of revenge for his murdered father, he sheds no tears and knows no love. Forever chased by powerful enemies in a lawless technology-speckled dystopia, he evades bullets and blade to reach his final prey: a man who will not die. But Afro will reach his quarry – even if it means painting a road of blood and brains from here to the bitter inevitable end.” I remember getting really freaked out by the premise when I first saw it, though now that a trailer has been released, I have to say that it looks interesting. Still, I’m fearing that this’ll be one of those anime with 100% style and 0% story.

Silk Road Boy Yuto

“When a boy Yuto visits Qinghai in China, he is involved in the battle between time-travellers, and he is sent to the Silk Road in the past. They are looking for a mysterious treasure, the statue of Yuki Daruma Taishi, which is said to make miracles. Seeing historical events and encountering historical persons, such as Yang Guifei and Xuanzang, he will learn many things. Whether will he be able to go back to today?” Actually quite an interesting premise. It’ll be interesting to learn a bit about China’s background. Still, the fact remains that our main character looks like a pubescent male.

Katekyo Hitman REBORN!
“Sawada Tsunayoshi, or Tsuna, is a boy who is not good at ether study or sports. To him, a tutor named Reborn is sent. Surprisingly he is a baby, and his purpose is to make Tsuna a full-fledged boss of an Italian mafia, Vongole Family. The way Reborn teach him is to shoot “Deathperation” bullet into Tusna’s head. Those who are shot by the bullet are “reborn” to work hard to fulfil his dying will.” The title makes you think that we’re dealing with another one of those second-rate mecha shows. Guess my surprise when I found out what this anime really was about. ^^;

Marginal Prince ~Gekkeiju no Ohji Tachi~

A bishounen-series by Gonzo!? I have to see this. XD
Seriously, though. It just seems so NOT like an anime they’d do.

Pumpkin Scissors

This is a very strange anime. Ever since I talked about it, a trailer has been released. It features very tension-full music, and it really tries to put up a show. That worked with me, until I realized the ridiculously stupid name and logo this show features. What exactly is this show going for anyway? “The long war against Frost Republic scarred many places of the Empire; famine, plague, returned soldiers who become bandits… Worrying about these “war damages” resulting from the devastations of the nation and people’s minds, the Empire Army organizes the 3rd section of Information Bureau known as “Pumpkin Scissors”, and they assigned the section for the duty of recovery from the war damage. Three years have passed since the truce so called “thin ice agreement”. The 3rd section hasn’t accomplished their task, yet. Rather, they are absorbed in paper works, and without notice, people ridicule that it is an “Excuse Section” that suppress people’s complaint. However, they strive to achieve their tasks. One day, a man offers a help to them. It was a big guy who used to be a soldier. Dangling an iron lantern from his waist, he handles a heavy gun one-handed.”

Öban Star Racers

A shounen action-racing series with a girl as main character. That’s an interesting one. “Every 10.000 years, the greatest pilots in the universe face-off in a mysterious and mythical race: the Great Race of Öban. It is said the outcome of the competition will radically transform the balance of power within our Galaxy… On Earth, Eva 15 is determined to be reunited with her father, race manager Don Wei, who sent her off to boarding school ten years ago. She joins his famous star-racer team under the alias “Molly”. Before she knows what is happening, “Molly” takes off for the planet Alouas, first stage of the Great Race of Öban, with champion pilot Rick Thunderbolt and gunner Jordan. The fate of Molly and her friends, as well as the future of the human race, are now inextricably intertwined…” The creators are expecting some high things from this. Six years of development went into this. Now let’s see if they can deliver something more than just brainless action, though from the looks of the trailer, this will be an interesting watch.

Code Geass Hangyaku no Lelouch

Ever since I talked about it, a trailer has been released, though it never shows any animation. Just a few pictures who slide across the screen. In any case, this anime will be about fighting mechas, with some strange plot around it. I’m not necessarily a fan of mechas, though the fact that Clamp is involved makes me interested.

Death Note

“Light Yagami (Or Raito) is an ace student with great aspects who`s bored out of his mind. One day he finds the Death Note a notebook held by a shinigami (Death God). with the Death Note in hand, Light decides to create a perfect world. A world without crime or criminals. However when criminals start dropping dead one by one, the authorities send the legendary detective L to track down the killer.” I talked about this one before. I want to find out myself whether it deserved its hype. Still, I like the fact that it’s labelled as a mystery-show.

The Wallflower

“4 handsome guys get to live in a gorgeous, large mansion for free. There’s only one catch: Turn the land lady’s niece into a “lady”. Soon the boys find out this is no easy task, Sunako, the girl in question, is a gothic, horror movie freak who looks like Sadako from The Ring. The boys now must start the gruelling task of turning the gore-loving girl into a “lady”. Quite an interesting premise. Gothic horror freaks are interesting people. ^^ I’m just getting worried about how this anime’ll end. I just hope she won’t transform into the perfect clueless boring girl.

A Spirit of the Sun

“A big earthquake demolishes the capital of Japan, and it splits the main land into halves. Japan is divided into the northern and the southern parts. They accept aides from two large countries, i.e., United States and China. However, actually, it is occupation named “aid”. Many Japanese become refugees to go to foreign countries. But, the recovery from the disaster doesn’t work well, and frictions between the inhabitants and the refugees who can’t go home are getting serious.” This one’s scheduled to come out around half September. It’s got quite an interesting premise, including character art. It seems to be a short television series: only two episodes.

Tempou Ibun Ayakashi Ayashi

“In the year of Tempo 14, Yoi, monsters from another world attack Edo. Those who fight against them are members of Bansha Aratemesho. In public, Bansha Aratemsho is known as an organization to study foreign books. In fact, they are a organization dedicated to destroying the Yoi. These warriors are called Ayakashi. They gather information of odd events in the country, and are sent to destroy Yoi who appear. They are generally very strange people. For example, a guy who has lost his memory, a girl who dresses like a man. They have special powers with which to beat the Yoi. There’s one thing I like about this premise: the strange characters. If they really are as strange as the description says, I’m in.

Sumomo mo Momo mo

“The main character, Inuzuka Koshi, was born in a martial arts family, but he dislikes violence and he wants to become a prosecutor. One day, the strongest martial artist, Kuzuryu Momoko comes in order to bear him the strongest child.” Should provide a number of funny moments at the least, though will it be a successful comedy?

Ghost Hunt

Taniyama Mai is a young first year high school student with a most unusual part-time job. Working for Shibuya Psychic Research, she helps investigate possible hauntings and other paranormal phenomena. However, working at such an unusual job also means working with some unusual individuals. Shibuya Kazuya, company boss and total narcissist, has to be one of the most self-confident, albeit very well-learned, individuals Mai has ever met. Unfortunately, it doesn’t help that he’s also one of the best looking men she’s ever met either. And despite his personality, Mai can’t help but feel like she’s falling for her boss. Also working at Shibuya Psychic Research is Lin, mystery man who says very little and whose job is to take care of the company equipment and database. Helping these people are several psychically gifted people including Hara Masako – top-ranking medium, Matsuzaki Ayako – miko (shrine maiden), Takigawa Houshou – formerly a Mt. Kouya (sacred mountain and home to many Buddhist monasteries in Japan) Buddhist monk, and John Brown – Catholic priest and exorcist. Together they all work to determine if unusual happenings are indeed the work of the paranormal or if there are more mundane explanations…” (Source: http://www.abcb.com/manga/hunt_000.htm) I’ve got love/hate relationships with this anime. On one side, the side-characters sound very interesting. On the other side, it does feature a girl falling in love with an idiot. On yet another hand, it’s a shoujo-anime, focused at death and horror.

Asatte no Hoko

“Very soon Gohyakugawa Karada will become a junior high student, and both of her parents have since passed away. She and her older brother, Hiro, live together. Although their days pass quietly, she gets the feeling that as her only blood relative, Hiro-oniisan has all the responsibility and she wants to quickly become an adult. On the other hand, Hiro’s ex-girlfriend, Nogami Shoko cannot forget her feelings about Hiro, and is obsessed with escaping to old memories. So one day, Shoko’s adult body transforms into that of a child! Karada uses a wishstone and says, “Please change my body..” The protagonists Karada and Shoko, and the people who surround, them are depicted in this summer fantasy.” I still like the premise. This really seem to be the right ingredients for a nice drama.

Master of Epic

Very interesting, Master of Epic is to be released in the fall-season. Now let’s hope Gonzo won’t butcher it.

Red Garden

“New York…girls who approach together being introduced by cruel fates…conflicts, and feuding over their sense of values… Kate, Rose, and Rachel go to a same school. Since the morning, they’ve been feeling something strange. They are informed of a sudden death of a classmate, Leeds. In the evening, being in grief, the girls gather in an empty warehouse street as if they were led by something. Usually, they are not in company, but coincidentally, they had the same strange feelings, and they lost their memories of the last night. When they hear someone’s footsteps and turn, there is a strange couple. The woman notifies them a surprising truth sounds like a lie;“ You are dead”” I’ve already talked about this anime before, and ever since then, I’ve been getting more and more intrigued by it whenever I ran into it. There’s no information about it anywhere, but somehow I’m really getting interested in it.

Black Lagoon Second Barrage

The second season of Black Lagoon seems to be listed for Fall 2006, according to the test wiki. A specific date hasn’t been announced yet, though. Still, this should prove to be great.

Jigoku Shoujo ni Kago

I’ll definitely be watching this. ^_^

+ Top 5 Episodes +
5: xxxHolic – 18
I never knew that an episode featerd around just two characters discussing a case could be this awesome.

4: Night Head Genesis – 01
A beautiful tale about two brothers, being ripped from their parents because of their powers. Not to mention that the music was incredible.

3: Simoun – 19
Mamiina… T_T

2: Tsubasa Chronicle – 40
I never knew Tsubasa Chronicle could be this awesome. Kurogane’s past is so incredibly sad.

1: Noein – 24
I think it’s clear now that I absolutely loved this episode. ^_^;;